China treasury bond futures close lower Thursday

China's treasury bond futures closed lower on Thursday, with the contract for settlement in June closing at 94.1 yuan (15.3 U.S. dollars), down 0.01 yuan.

The contract for settlement in September lost 0.116 yuan to close at 94.38 yuan, while the December contract closed at 94.856 yuan, down 0.056 yuan.

The contracts are agreements to buy or sell treasury bonds at a predetermined price and set date. They allow investors to bet on and profit from the movements in the value of the bonds.

The treasury bond futures were launched at the Shanghai-based China Financial Futures Exchange (CFFEX) and started trading on Sept. 6, 2013.